Archie
by fangirlwriting
Summary: It is almost summer vacation for ones Phineas and Ferb, and you better believe they are ready with tons of ideas. But their plans are happily interrupted when an old friend of Ferb's comes to visit from England. However, as time passes, something seems off about this friend, and Ferb is suddenly acting very unusual. But surely Archie couldn't be the problem... right?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Here it is. The one you've all been _waiting for!_ Okay, not really. But this is chapter one of _Archie_ , and I have worked on this story for a _really long time_. I am so glad it's finally ready. Please enjoy.**

The first time Phineas met Archie they were only a couple weeks from summer vacation— the best time of the year. Phineas and Ferb had been lining up projects for weeks, and they had the first few days of summer jam-packed. Sometimes Buford joked that the two brothers seemed to enjoy the time leading up to the break more than the summer vacation itself.

The group of five were all walking out the front door of the school at the end of the day. It was a Thursday, only eleven school days from summer. Phineas was gabbing on about some idea he'd come up with during lunch hour, Ferb was listening with an amused smile on his face, Isabella was standing a little too close to Phineas, Phineas wasn't noticing a thing, and Buford and Baljeet were arguing about something or other; when suddenly they heard a british accent from off to the left.

"Hey, I'd recognize that green hair anywhere!"

Everyone jerked their heads to the side to see a blond-haired teenager who looked a little older than the now 15-year-olds with a slightly too-big smile and an also slightly too-big nose… which balanced out the smile more or less.

"Ferb Fletcher!" the teenager said happily.

Ferb bit his lip in thought, obviously trying to place the memory of the person standing in front of him.

"What, don't tell me you don't remember me?" the boy asked, his smile shrinking a little bit. "I know you were a couple years younger than I was, but…"

It suddenly seemed to click in Ferb's mind. "Archie?" he asked in disbelief.

Archie's grin grew again. "Yep!"

Phineas glanced over at his brother, and in the brief instant he did, a strange look crossed over Ferb's face. It was one he couldn't read, which was weird, because Phineas had been able to read his brother really well practically since they'd met. But the look passed so quickly Phineas almost wondered if he'd imagined it, and then Ferb grinned too. He and the random teenager (Archie, he supposed) both walked forward and gave each other a hug.

Phineas, Buford, Baljeet, and Isabella all shared a surprised glance.

"Hey Ferb, who's this?" Isabella asked.

Ferb turned around. "Everyone, this is Archie. We were friends way back when, before I first moved to America." Ferb turned back to Archie, and gestured to everyone in the group. "Archie, these are my friends Buford, Baljeet, and Isabella, and my stepbrother Phineas."

"Woah, you have a stepbrother? Hey, that's cool. You always were really lonely. Well, you had me, but…"

"Archie." Ferb grumbled, blushing.

Archie laughed. "Well hey, I'm so glad to see you again."

Ferb nodded. "Of course. What are you doing here?"

"I moved here!" Archie called, his grin seeming to get even bigger, if that was possible.

Ferb eyes widened. "No way."

"Yep." Archie said. "Hey Ferb, walk home with me. I could see where you live and we could catch up."

"That sounds like a great idea." Phineas cut in. "You good with that, Ferb?"

And suddenly, another blink-and-you'll-miss-it look, this time from Archie. He looked slightly irritated, though Phineas wasn't sure about what. He went back to grinning in less than a second, but Phineas still gave him a curious look.

Ferb nodded, affirming him walking home with Archie, and Phineas turned his attention back to his stepbrother. He smiled, shoving the odd looks on both of them from his mind. "Alright, we're gonna take the bus. See ya at home, bro."

Ferb nodded again, and the now group of four headed off towards the bus they all rode.

"Honestly, I have not given much thought to the life Ferb had before coming to America." Baljeet said. He paused. "Which is not fair."

"Yeah, show a little consideration." Buford said, turning away in mock disgust.

"Buford, have _you_ ever given any thought to the life Ferb previously had?"

"Not important."

Isabella laughed.

"Hey, did something seem off about him to you guys?" Phineas asked, glancing back over his shoulder at Ferb and Archie as he climbed on the bus after Isabella. He wasn't even really sure which one of them he was talking about.

Isabella gave him a look. "No, why?"

Phineas shrugged. "I dunno. I guess it was nothing."


	2. Chapter 2

Ferb got home about a half hour after Phineas did, and found him working on a design in his sketchbook. He sat down next to him on the couch and Phineas glanced over. "How was catching up?" he asked.

"It was fine." Ferb said. He glanced down at the sketchbook Phineas was drawing in. "What are you working on?"

"Our edible-fruit-clothes idea. I'm trying to decide if we should include eggplants or not." Phineas said, tapping the side of his face with his pencil.

"Definitely include eggplants." Ferb said. "And make sure to add dragon fruit and korean melons and jackfruit and kiwanos."

"Alright smart-alec." Phineas said, shooting Ferb a playful glare that included a grin. "I get it, no eggplants." He crossed out his note about eggplants and set the sketchbook to the side. "So how come you never told me about Archie?" he asked.

Ferb shrugged. "Really just never crossed my mind to be honest. I mean, I was two when we first met and three when dad and I first moved here. Three year olds don't really have that kind of thought process."

"Fair enough." Phineas said. He paused. "You sure the walk home was fine?"

"Yes." Ferb said, sounding confused. "Why wouldn't it be?"

Phineas bit his lip. Why was this bothering him so much? He was most likely— no, he was definitely making a big deal out of this for no reason. And making a big deal out of what? An odd look he had seen on his brother's face for a brief second? Phineas was not a particularly decisive person, he tended to either notice things that weren't really there, or not notice things that were obvious. It was just who he was.

"No reason." Phineas finally decided. "I'm sure it's nothing. Come on, we should probably start dinner."

It was Thursday, which meant their parents had their date night, and Phineas and Ferb were left to their own devices. Not that it bothered them in the slightest, as they usually found some way to incorporate their inventions into the making of the dinner. It was how most of them were tested, if he was being honest.

For instance, tonight they were using their machine that was supposed to make temporary portals in space-time. That way they could reach into the cabinets without ever opening them. This was their field test.

"What'cha feelin' like, Ferbmister?" Phineas asked as they walked into the kitchen.

Ferb glanced around the kitchen before coming to a conclusion. "Stew."

Phineas flipped on their latest invention and pulled a pack of stew meat out of the freezer. He grinned. "Well, the invention seems to work." he said, stating the obvious. "Beef stew okay?"

Ferb nodded and took out his own version of the device, grabbing other things they would need like potatoes, carrots, celery, and onions. Phineas took the stew meat over to the stove and started browning it while Ferb began to wash the potatoes. After a while the two brothers got into a rhythm where neither of them really needed to move, just handed stuff off to each other. But Ferb did end up walking over to dump all the vegetables in the pot. After that, they let it stew (because that's the point of a stew) while they both went into the other room to watch some TV.

When Phineas went in to check on the stew an hour later, it was done, and he and Ferb both took way more than they would eat and went back into the living room to watch more TV like they weren't supposed to during dinnertime and watched shows that their parents most definitely would not approve of.

After that they put all the leftover stew in the fridge and studied for their finals together (they liked to get a head start) with the second floor of the house tipped backwards off its hinges; mostly because they wanted some fresh air, but also because they had adjusted Isabella's second floor a few years ago and every now and then they liked to compare notes by shouting across the street.

Such was a normal evening for Phineas and Ferb.

And it would be the last normal evening for a very long while… or at least, that was how it would feel to Phineas.

But nothing bad had happened yet, and he did not yet know that anything would. For now, he was screaming to Isabella: "Hey, what's the answer to #3?" and the new-old friend of Ferb's had completely slipped his mind.


	3. Chapter 3

Archie was not seen much the next morning, as he was a senior and all five of the gang were only in their sophomore year. Buford mentioned how it must have been really hard to move to another _continent_ in your senior year, and everyone seemed to agree that was a little strange.

Ferb had shrugged in response when the question of why was turned to him. "Archie can handle it." he said. "He was always very smart." And it had been left at that. They had moved on to other topics.

None of them brought up Archie again until lunch hour, when he walked up to the group's table and asked if he could sit. Turns out they all had the same lunch. So, of course, they let him sit with them.

Archie immediately grabbed a chair and dragged it in between Phineas and Ferb. They both blinked before scooting their own chairs to opposite sides of the table. And then Phineas stood up with his sketchbook and Ferb followed. Buford, Baljeet, and Isabella exchanged grins, and Archie shot a confused look in between the two brothers. "Uh… what's going on?" he asked.

"Oh, hang on a sec." Phineas said. "You're gonna love this."

He and Ferb both walked over to the other side of the room where the air vents were. Phineas turned to Ferb with a grin. "You ready?"

In response, Ferb pulled their edible-fruit-clothing machine. They had made it the past two days on the bus and had finally added all of the fruit options yesterday. They attached the device to the air vents and the vents over the table's popped open and hung on by their hinges.

The lunch ladies were used to it enough that they didn't bother stopping the two of them, but so far it had only caught the attention of Buford, Baljeet, Isabella, and Archie in the student body.

Phineas pulled his microphone out of his backpack and plugged it into the wall. Due to how fast he'd plugged it in, there was a little feedback and everyone in the cafeteria covered their ears. But they all recovered when the feedback stopped and eagerly turned towards Phineas and Ferb.

Phineas chuckled. "Whoopsie. Sorry everyone." he said into the mic. Laughter sounded throughout the room. Phineas turned back to their device. "Okay, so this one's a little random, but stay with us on this. Ferb?"

Ferb turned back to the machine and switched it on. Out of the vents fell what looked like ordinary hats, the only differences being the color. When they were sure everyone had one, Phineas went back to the microphone. "Okay, now take a bite!"

Surprised looks were exchanged. Baljeet was the first one to bite out of it. He blinked in surprise. "Hey, it tastes like doonkelberry."

Confused questions and remarks were now being said. But soon, everyone was taking bites out of the brims of their hats.

"I got strawberry!" someone called.

"Mine's blackberry!" came someone else.

"I got kiwi!"

"Apple!"

"This is the best blueberry I've ever had!"

Pretty soon people started jamming the hats on their heads and trying to bite them without having to take them off, people were trading hats to get tastes of different ones, people were licking the hats and seeing how that compared, and some people just put them on their heads and remarked how they were going to make bitten hats the next big thing.

Phineas laughed, and he and Ferb high-fived. There were several 'thank-yous' as they walked back towards the table.

"Well, that was weird but awesome, Dinner Bell." said Buford.

"I told you it was random." Phineas said with a smile and a shrug.

"Okay, what the _hell_?" asked Archie. "Do you do stuff like that often?"

"Yeah, all the time!" Phineas called happily. "We're inventors. I design the stuff and Ferb builds it."

"Oh, so you mean you tell him what to do and he has to do it?"

"What?!" Phineas asked, flinching backwards. "That's— no, that's not what I meant at all." He shared an uneasy look with Buford, Baljeet and Isabella. But when he glanced back over at Ferb he found him picking at his mashed potatoes with a fork. "Ferb?" he asked hesitantly.

"Huh? What?" Ferb asked, glancing up. "Did you say something? Sorry, I was thinking about something else." The look still on Ferb's face said he had clearly heard what Archie said, but Phineas was also pretty sure he was the only one who could read that look.

"No, never mind." Phineas said. He looked back at the other three, who looked just as confused and unnerved as he did.

…

"So, uh, what was that you said about him being off?" Buford hissed as the teacher up front was talking. Phineas had art class with Buford and Isabella right after lunch, although right now that's not what any of them were paying attention to.

"Yeah, what the heck was that?" Isabella asked from her spot next to Phineas. "It's like he thought your friendship was, like, a dictatorship or something."

"Yeah." Phineas muttered, and then glanced at the two of them, keeping his voice low. "I don't… I don't know what his deal is, because it's never been like that. Has it ever seemed like that to you guys?"

Both of them shook their heads.

"I mean, honestly, I'm glad Ferb didn't hear him." Buford grunted. "'Cause I don't know what his reaction would've been."

"He did, Buford." Phineas muttered.

Buford glanced over at Phineas. "What?"

"He did hear him. I could tell." Phineas bit his lip and wrung his hands. "But Ferb's never thought that either. At least, I don't think he has…. You guys don't think I ever did anything that could've—"

"Not a chance." Buford cut in. " _You_ doing something to hurt someone? Never. Especially not Ferb."

"Yeah, Buford's right. No way." Isabella said.

"Um, excuse me?" came a louder voice. All three teenagers jerked towards the front of the room, where Ms. Hazelwood was now facing them. "Is there something you would like to share with the class?"

"Uh…" Buford stuttered.

"No ma'am!" Isabella called. "Sorry ma'am!"

Ms. Hazelwood shot them a look that was part glare, but also part concern. The three of them did not usually talk in this class. Then she went back to whatever method she was teaching.

"But what if it was unintentional?" Phineas whispered in an even quieter tone than before.

"Then you would have noticed a _long_ time ago." Buford hissed back. "Dinner Bell, you may be oblivious to almost everything else—" he glanced at Isabella, then back at Phineas, "—but you and Ferb can basically read each other's minds."

Phineas sighed. "And I'm worried about him, too. Did my mind reading tell me that?"

The bell rang. "And make sure that's done by Monday!" called Ms. Hazelwood.

Isabella, Buford, and Phineas, all shared a slightly guilty glance when they realized they had no idea what she was talking about. When everyone else left the three of them walked to the front of the room. "Uh, Ms. Hazelwood…" Phineas said hesitantly.

She sighed. "It's on the board." she said. Then she turned to face them with concern. "Are you three okay? You're not usually this… distracted."

"We're fine, Ms. Hazelwood." Isabella said. "We're just…" she glanced at Phineas, asking him for permission, so Phineas cut in.

"We're just worried about my brother, ma'am. He didn't seem so well at lunch."

"Hmm." said Ms. Hazelwood. "He wasn't sick when he was in my class this morning."

"Not in that sense, ma'am." Buford said.

Ms. Hazelwood gave them a curious look. "Alright. Well, let me know if he gets better?"

They nodded, all three of them deciding not to explain, then got the assignment from the board and left the room.

…

When Ferb got home after walking with Archie, Phineas was sitting in the living room working on the art project that was due that Monday. But as soon as Ferb came into the living room Phineas set it to the side. "Hey, Ferb! It's Friday afternoon, so what do you wanna do today?"

Ferb sat down and shrugged. "What do you want to do?" he began playing with his hands.

Phineas bit his lip. "I'm asking you, Ferb."

Ferb shrugged again. "I don't have any ideas."

Something about the way he said made Phineas pause and think backwards.

" _Hey, Ferbmister, whaddaya you wanna do?" three-year-old Phineas asked his soon-to-be stepbrother._

" _What do you want to do?" Ferb asked him._

 _Phineas gave him a curious look. "I'm askin' you, Ferbmister."_

 _Ferb shrugged._

 _Phineas smiled at him. "Cummon, Ferbmister, there's gotta be more-ta ya than jus' bein' good with tools. Ya gotta have an idea or two. So cummon, whatchu wanna do today?"_

 _Ferb shrugged again. "I don't have any ideas."_

When he had first met Ferb, whenever he had suggested doing something, Ferb had said yes without a second thought. And then whenever he had asked Ferb what he wanted to do, Ferb had immediately turned it back towards whatever Phineas wanted. Phineas, as a 3-year-old, had assumed it was a habit of some kind, and from the way it looked, he had been right, because Phineas had not seen Ferb shift things like that in 10 years.

And suddenly Archie shows up, and Ferb is doing it all over again.

"Ferb…" Phineas said hesitantly.

"What?" Ferb asked.

"Maybe… maybe you shouldn't walk home with Archie anymore."

Ferb blinked. "What? What does Archie have to do with any of this?"

"I'm not— exactly sure, but—"

"Then what are you saying?"

"I— uh—" Phineas stopped. "I don't—" he sighed. "I guess I'm just worried about you, Ferb."

"Why would you need to be worried about me?"

"You've just haven't been yourself lately. And the only difference has been Archie showing up. I'm just wondering if you're okay."

"Well stop wondering." Ferb snapped. "Because I'm fine."

"You don't need to get defensive." Phineas whispered, taking a half step back. He tried to keep his gaze from moving to the floor.

"Apparently I do if you bring my friend into it. He hasn't done anything wrong." And with that, Ferb turned and walked into the kitchen. "I'm going to get some food." he called over his shoulder.

…

"And I didn't know what to say to that." Phineas said into the receiver. "Because technically that was right. Archie hasn't done anything he could be punished for. But at the same time, he's clearly done _something_ that bothers Ferb, even if Ferb won't admit it. And he definitely has some… _different_ opinions that seem… uh…"

"Wrong?" Isabella asked.

Phineas sighed. "Yeah. But maybe I'm just making too big a deal out of this? Like those weird glances I thought I saw on the first day Archie showed up. Maybe this is more my problem than Archie's?"

"Definitely not." Isabella replied. "Because Buford, Baljeet, and I all noticed it too."

"Yeah, you did." Phineas paused. "You don't think we're like, jealous or something, do you?"

"Jealous of what?" Isabella asked. "He's an old friend of Ferb that showed up two days ago. What would we have to be jealous of?"

"Yeah, you're right. Well, maybe he's just distant?"

"He didn't seem all that distant to me."

"No, I mean, maybe he's one of those people you need to get to know before you can really like him. Maybe he just doesn't have a good first impression."

"So shy little kid _Ferb_ took the time to get to know him?" Isabella asked skeptically. Then she paused. "That came out wrong."

"No, I know what you mean."

There was a couple seconds of silence before Isabella spoke again. "I think you should talk to your father. I mean, he's bound to know about Archie, right?"

Phineas blinked. "Yeah, that's a good point. Why didn't I think of that?"

"Because I'm a genius."

Phineas chuckled. "Well, I knew that. Thanks for the talk, Izzy."

"Anytime."

…

When Phineas found him, Lawrence was in the computer room betting on an online auction.

"Hey, dad?" he called.

"Hang on, Phineas. I've almost beaten cookiecutter64 for this set of books from the 1800s."

Phineas stood for a second, and then his dad cheered. "I've got them, Phineas! This calls for a celebration. Chez Platypus for dinner?"

Phineas smiled nervously. "That sounds great dad, and I mean it, but I need to talk to you about something."

Lawrence picked up on the concerned tone in his son's voice and slid away from the desk. "Is something wrong?"

"Um, apparently this old friend of Ferb's moved here from London."

Lawrence raised his eyebrows. "Oh?"

"Yeah." Phineas said. "His name is Archie, and—"

"Archie?" his dad looked confused. "I thought I knew all of Ferb's friends from back in England."

"You don't know Archie?" Phineas asked. If possible, this just made him even more worried than he already was.

Lawrence gave him a concerned look. "Phineas, is everything alright?"

"I thought you would know." Phineas muttered. "Ferb's just been… I've just been worried about him lately."

"What's wrong with Ferb?" Lawrence asked, now looking very concerned.

Phineas sighed. "It's kind of hard to explain because I'm not really sure if it's a big deal. I don't have a lot of… instances, evidence, whatever you want to call it. There's not really many events that seem like they're a cause for worry. I mean, I saw Ferb look almost… scared when he saw Archie on the first day but then he was really happy to see him, and then we didn't see him again until lunch earlier today and Archie made this really weird comment that probably only seemed as bad as it did because I was already worried more than I probably should have been and maybe I'm jumping to conclusions, I don't know. I think it's just kind of a gut instinct. Except I don't usually trust those. But, you know, it's Ferb…" At that minute Phineas realized that he had been staring at the ground and counting his sentences on his fingers. He chuckled and glanced back up and his father, who was smiling in a knowing way. "I think I'm overreacting just a little."

"If you're worried that's always something to be taken seriously." Lawrence said. "But it doesn't sound like this 'Archie' person has done anything definitive. And yes, I think you can tend to overreact to things. You're not the most observational person. Tell you what, if you end up thinking something is really wrong you can tell me and we'll do something about it."

Phineas smiled, feeling a little better. "Okay. Thanks dad."

Just then Linda walked around the doorway. "Hey, it's time for dinner."

"Alright." Phineas said, as both of them rose and left the room.


	4. Chapter 4

The next morning Ferb said he was going to be spending the day with his friend Archie, and Phineas tried to keep an open mind, despite the fact that they usually spent weekends inventing things together.

Instead, Phineas called Baljeet and the two of them agreed to go to a book signing of one of Baljeet's favorite authors.

"Any particular reason you are doing this today instead of you and Ferb's usual Saturday activities?" Baljeet asked while they were waiting in their third line. To Phineas, these events mostly seemed like a lot of waiting. He had brought along some spare parts and was now making a scale model for an idea he had thought up.

"Oh, um, it's no big deal 'Jeet. Ferb is spending the day with Archie. You know, to… catch up."

Phineas wasn't sure he could make it more obvious how worried he still was.

"Oh." Baljeet said, and he sounded worried too. "That is nice."

They moved forward one more step. Phineas groaned. "This is so weird. Normally, it's Ferb worrying about me, if one of us is worried about the other at all. I'm usually the one screwing up the invention or making the stupid decision."

"You think Ferb is being stupid?" Baljeet asked curiously.

"What? No, that's not what I meant. I just meant… well I'm not exactly sure what I meant. I'm just…"

"Worried?" Baljeet asked.

Phineas sighed. "Yeah. I'm just worried."

When the two of them reached the front of the line Baljeet had seemed to temporarily forget about Ferb and had actually started up a conversation with the author, to the extreme annoyance of everyone behind them.

Phineas had finished his scale model and was moving his thumb back and forth over a section, smoothing it out and rubbing it raw. He took and deep breath and, for the time being, shoved Ferb to the back of his mind; he looked down at the model, wondering how many broken laws of physics it would take to turn the elements on the periodic table into living creatures. Maybe they could do tomorrow.

…

Ferb did not get home until about fifteen minutes before dinner. And instead of helping with dinner like he usually did, he asked if he could go take a nap.

He was granted permission, so everyone had to work a little faster, but dinner was still ready in time.

Ferb trotted down the steps rubbing his eyes, looking like he was still waking up. He also did not say much during dinner, which would have been very normal five years ago, but the family had become used to Ferb's slowly more chatty nature. He was on no level with Phineas, but he had found overtime that he had more to say. So him saying nothing was now abnormal enough that both of their parents took notice.

"Ferb, honey, are you alright?" his mother asked. "You're awfully quiet."

"I'm just tired." Ferb mumbled, and rubbed at his eyes to prove his point.

"Long day, was it?" Lawrence asked.

Ferb nodded.

"How about you, Phineas?" Linda asked.

"Oh yeah, I'm really beat too." Phineas said. "I spent the day with Baljeet at this author signing. It was one of his favorites. I… honestly I have no memory of who it was but while I was there I came up with this really great idea. We're gonna have to find some time to do this one Ferb. Oh, here. I have a model I made." Phineas reached into his pocket and pulled out the miniature device and set it on the table.

About two years ago Linda had come upon the fact that Phineas and Ferb invented in their free time. She did not know to the extent of which it went, especially back in the summer when they were 10 years old (much to the annoyance of Candace), but 'What was this week's favorite invention?' had become a common question in the Flynn-Fletcher household.

Linda chuckled. "Oh, yes, you sound exhausted."

Phineas laughed too.

…

The next morning Phineas woke up early and proceeded to wake up Ferb by beginning to talk excitedly. "Ferb! Hey, Ferb, I know what we're gonna do today!" Phineas called happily, then reached over to his nightside table and presented the model from the day before.

"So," he said, launching right into explaining the idea. "I'm not entirely sure where this idea came from but I got it yesterday while at the author signing with Baljeet. And then after dinner when you went right to bed I went over to Isabella's and ran the idea by her and she helped me out with some of the sketches so the idea is to take the elements from the periodic table and turn them into living creatures! I think we're probably gonna have to break some laws of physics for this one but I think it'll be worth it! I also think first things first we should give Sulfur a bath to see if the smell would be permanent or not. Whaddaya think?"

Ferb yawned. "I dunno, Phin." he mumbled, rubbing at his hair to try and get rid of a bedhead. "I'm still pretty tired. I'm not exactly in the mood for inventing today."

All of Phineas' energy deflated. "Oh." he said, cringing at how painfully obvious the disappoint was in his voice. "What… are you gonna do instead?"

Ferb raised his eyebrows. "Probably relax. You know, not everything we do has to be inventing."

"What? No, that's not what I meant." Phineas said sincerely. "I was just…"

"Wondering if I was intending to spend the day with Archie again?"

Phineas bit his lip, scratching at his ear. "No."

"You are the worst liar."

Phineas sighed. "Well, are you?"

"No," Ferb said. "Like I said before, I am planning to relax. You know, I haven't seen him in 13 years. It's okay if I want to spend some time with him."

"No, of course it is, I know it is," Phineas said hurriedly. "I'm just—" Phineas stopped himself before he could say 'worried about you,' remembering how that had gone the last time. Instead he finished with another sigh. "Okay, Ferb." he said. "I'm gonna go eat some breakfast."

And he did. Slowly, turning everything over in his mind, such as Ferb's strange behavior lately and Archie's strange behavior always and why Phineas could not seem to shake either of their behaviors from his mind.

In the end, when Isabella poked her head through the back gate and asked, "Whatcha doin'?" Phineas was attempting to build his periodic table creature idea on his own— which wasn't usually a good idea. But today he desperately needed something to distract himself.

"Where's Ferb?" Isabella asked as Buford and Baljeet wandered in behind her.

"He's not off with that Archie guy again, is he?" Buford asked, wrinkling his nose. "Something is so wrong about that kid."

"Archie is 18 Buford." Baljeet pointed out. "He is not a kid."

"I call everyone I don't know kid."

"No, Ferb's not with Archie." Phineas said. "I think he's inside watching some TV show."

"So, what are you doing?" Isabella asked.

"I'm trying to turn Sulfur into an animal."

There was a couple seconds of silence. But there was no "What?" from someone, which was a question he would have gotten four or five years ago. Everyone had heard one too many bizarre out-of context things come out of Phineas' mouth for them to be surprised by what his latest idea was. Instead, a different, much less common question arose from Isabella.

"Without Ferb?"

"Yeah, okay?!" Phineas snapped. "Because Ferb wanted a break! Not _everything_ the two of us do has to be inventing!"

"What? No, no, that's not what I—"

Phineas cut her off. "I know." he tightened one of the miniscule screws on the incredibly tiny device. "Sorry I snapped at you."

The three of his friends walked forwards and all sat down around Phineas in a semi-circle, with Phineas taking up the other part of it. "You know, if it makes you feel any better, we don't like him one bit either." Buford said.

"Whatever." Phineas muttered, now moving to work on the wiring.

That caused all three of his friend's eyebrows to shoot up. Because that was nowhere near his ordinary attitude.

"Are _you_ okay?" Baljeet asked. "Do not make us worry about you too."

"You don't need to worry about anyone." Phineas said. "What is there to worry about? We're all just jumping to conclusions."

"All _four_ of us?" Isabella asked.

"Maybe." Phineas slammed shut the tiny metal plate that covered the wires. "'Sides, Ferb doesn't want help."

"No. But," Baljeet pointed out. "He might need it."

Phineas flipped the switch to turn the machine on.

 _ **BOOM.**_

…

Phineas, Isabella, Buford, and Baljeet all walked in covered in soot and grass blades, and all of them were incredibly irritable as they walked over to the kitchen counter to make some lunch.

Ferb's eyes widened from the living room. "What happened to—"

"I don't want to talk about it." Phineas interrupted.


	5. Chapter 5

There was no invention for Monday's lunch hour either, which for some reason which was certainly just a coincidence, also seemed to make Archie incredibly smug. It seemed to be taking all of Buford's self control for him to not leap across the table and smack him.

However, none of the group of friends could do anything because none of them were really sure what was wrong. None of them had seen Archie do anything in particular, and they weren't around when it was just Ferb and Archie. They could have been picking flowers and braiding each other's hair for all they knew.

After lunch, several people came up to Phineas and asked if he and Ferb were okay. Phineas did his best to reply politely and dismissively, but when the tenth person came up to ask, Buford snapped at them to scram and that "Phineas and Ferb's lives are their business."

Phineas sighed in relief. "Thanks, Buford." he said as the group finally got to walk out of the lunch room and split off to their various classes. "If I had to talk to one more person I might've bitten their head off."

"It's not like they wouldn't've deserved it. For Pete's sake, you're not their personal invention robots." Buford said, rolling their eyes.

"Seriously." Isabella muttered. All three of them glanced away.

It didn't take genius to figure out that they were all avoiding what everyone asking was really doing. They were worried, just like the three of them.

"Did anyone finish that art project?" Buford asked, probably to change the subject.

"No." replied Phineas and Isabella at the same time.

"Mine's half-done, though." Phineas added. "And it's not like I need a ton of points in art class. One of you can have mine."

"Like Ms. Hazelwood won't notice your art style." Isabella said with a roll of her eyes. "And there's no way we can finish it before class. We're just gonna have to suck it up and take the zeros."

"We could say we left it at home and turn it in late." Buford suggested. "10% off is _way_ better than a zero."

The other two of them paused, and Phineas shrugged. "Eh, might as well." With that the art room came into sight. They all gave their excuses at the door and walked back to their seats. Ms. Hazelwood seemed a little suspicious, but she let them pass.

Phineas spent most of the class lost in his thoughts, and Buford and Isabella seemed to be doing the same thing.

As his thoughts progressed, Phineas pretty quickly came to the conclusion that he should stop fooling himself and admit that Archie was definitely doing _something_ wrong. Just not in the usual sense. The problem was that Phineas didn't know _what_ that something was.

By the end of art class, Phineas had heard absolutely nothing that the teacher had said, and he had also decided that he was going to find out exactly what was wrong with Archie.

…

After school Phineas casually told everyone he was going to walk home with Ferb and Archie that day because it was a really beautiful day and Phineas hadn't gotten to know Archie very well yet.

Archie had given a slightly strained smile and said that that sounded fine. Buford and Baljeet and Isabella had nodded and went to the bus without a word.

For the first five minutes, none of the three of them said anything at all. Finally, Archie spoke up. "So… you're Greenhead's stepbrother huh?"

"Well, we don't really go by _step_ brothers, but yeah." Phineas said. "And you're—"

"I'm Ferb's oldest friend, yes."

Phineas bit his lip to keep from snapping back. Ferb, who was walking in between the two of them, looked visibly uncomfortable. "Um, could you two please—"

Archie interrupted with a roll of his eyes. "It's fine, Ferb. It's just a little ribbing." He sighed. "Look, Percy—"

"It's Phineas."

"Okay, Phineas. I get that things might be a little awkward, what with me kind of just showing up, but—" he put a hand on Ferb's shoulder, and Ferb tensed. "—I really do want to be friends with you, and your other friends. I don't want to become part of Ferb's life again with you guys all hating me. It's just that, when Ferb was little, he was always really lonely."

"Archie." Ferb grumbled, moving away slightly in embarrassment.

"No, I just mean that I never really thought he could make a friend without me."

"Why wouldn't he be able to?" Phineas asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Phin." Ferb said exasperatedly, shooting Phineas a glance.

"What?"

"He was just a really shy kid." Archie explained. "Obviously, I'm really proud of him, I'm just not used to him _not_ being that shy kid."

Archie didn't sound all that proud. He sounded more irritated, like a parent would be if they were dealing with a three-year-old that had just done something they knew they weren't supposed to. Phineas bit his lip hard to keep from screaming at Archie. Who the hell did he think he was? Why did he get to pick Ferb's friends? He wasn't Ferb's parent, what gave him the right—

Phineas stopped himself short when he realized that those thoughts sounded exactly like what he had been worrying about— jealousy.

Was he really just jealous that Ferb's friend had come and he wanted to spend some time catching up with him? Was that all this was? That didn't _feel_ like all this was.

But, when it came down to it… shouldn't _Ferb_ get to pick Ferb's friends? If Ferb wanted to be friends with Archie, what gave _Phineas_ the right to stop him?

Phineas realized he had been quiet for quite a while, and Ferb was staring at him in concern, Archie with confusion and impatience. He bit his lip. "Okay." he muttered finally. "Okay. I'll try to be less judging, Archie. I'm sorry."

Archie smiled in relief, with a look of 'Finally.' across his face. Phineas did his best not to read into that either.

The rest of the walk was filled with much less awkward chatter. Archie learned about Phineas' sweet tooth, and he learned more about Phineas and Ferb's inventing. Phineas learned about Archie's love of music.

By the time Phineas got home, he was smiling, albeit hesitantly. But nevertheless, he was thinking that maybe things would be okay.


	6. Chapter 6

Except they weren't okay. No inventions were created during lunch hours, no inventions were created that weekend, Ferb was seeming less and less normal, and most importantly, he seemed miserable.

The words 'miserable' and 'Ferb' we're not words that Phineas usually combined, but he didn't have another way to describe it. Lawrence and Linda had picked up on it by this point too, and Lawrence had pulled Phineas aside before school one morning and asked him if he still thought what was happening was because of Archie. Phineas had told him yes, but he didn't know what to do about it.

Then came the surprise, Lawrence said he had seen Ferb act this way before, before the two of them moved to America. It had been worse before they moved because Ferb's mother had died, and Lawrence had kind of assumed that's what it was, just grief, especially since he'd also seen a lot of those behaviors go away after the first two years in America. But if it really was because of Archie this time, like Phineas thought… Lawrence wasn't sure what to think.

 _Well,_ Phineas thought to himself as he jogged out the door and towards his brother, _maybe Ferb's mother dying was only part of the problem._

The finals in the last week of school came up much too quickly, especially with everything that had happened. By the time the first final came up, neither Phineas or Ferb had studied for anything in nearly a week. Phineas managed to pass with a low B, so he still got a A in the overall class, but Ferb got a high D, which dropped his overall grade to a C. This was so unusual for the two brothers that their Chemistry teacher, Mr. Henrikson, pulled the two aside the day after the final and asked if they were doing alright.

Ferb simply replied that he was fine and left the room, while Phineas cast a concerned glance after his brother and absentmindedly repeated his statement before running out after him. "Hey, Ferb, wait up!" he called.

Ferb slowed and let Phineas come to a stop next to him. Both of them kept walking. "Ferb, are you okay?"

"Yes." Ferb replied almost too quickly, as if he knew the question was coming. "Why do you ask?"

"Because you just got a 68 on your Chemistry final."

"It was hard."

"Ferb, Chemistry is your best subject."

"Not true."

"Okay, Physics is, whatever, but Chemistry is second best."

"I'm fine, Phineas."

"You're obviously not."

"Lay off, would you?" Ferb snapped and walked towards their next class of the day. A couple steps outside the classroom he met up with no other than Archie.

Phineas moved over to the side of the hallway and collapsed against a locker. He was there for about ten seconds when he heard: "Phineas?"

He removed his hands from in front of his face to see Isabella, looking worried. "Are you okay?" she asked.

Phineas shook his head miserably.

Isabella sighed and joined him on the locker. "What happened?"

"Ferb just got a D+ on his Chemistry final and is refusing to acknowledge that there's a problem."

"Which makes it an even bigger problem." Isabella said. She sighed again.

Neither of them said anything for a second until Phineas spoke up. "You know what I've really been worried about?"

"What?" Isabella asked nervously.

"Mom and dad have this super important business trip coming up at the beginning of next week that they both _have_ to go on. I don't know what I'm going to do if something happens during that week. I mean before, Ferb and I were just gonna start our summer like usual, with maybe a big project that involved traveling a bit. But now…" he trailed off.

"Well, if you need help, you can always lean on us for that week." Isabella offered.

"Yeah, thanks, but the problem is, it's not like that is going to be the last week Archie is here. He _moved_ here, Isabella. I don't what his plans are for the summer, but it's not like he's going to disappear."

"He's probably going to college at the beginning of next year." Isabella said. "Maybe we just have to last that long?"

Phineas glanced at her. "At the rate things are going, that is a _horrible_ idea."

The one-minute bell rang, and both of the friends glanced up, then back at each other, and simultaneously walked off in opposite directions.

…

That night Ferb went to bed at 7:30, and Phineas stubbornly told himself he was going to study for his finals now. So he pulled his information out of his backpack and walked out the front door and across the street.

Isabella opened the door with her hair wet as she was pulling it into a ponytail.

"Oh. Um, sorry Isabella. I didn't realize you took a shower."

"I went swimming, actually," Isabella replied. "What do you need?"

"I just need a studying partner and I was wondering if you'd be willing to help."

"Of course." Isabella said with a smile. "Come on in."

She stepped back and Phineas walked through the door and towards the living room. Isabella sat next to him on the couch and the two spent the next hour or so going through their notes.

"So where's Ferb?" Isabella asked as they were looking over the English vocab words.

"Sleeping." Phineas sighed. "He's probably going to do just as bad on this final as the last one."

"We're gonna have to drag him over here for his Physics final, aren't we?" Isabella asked.

"If he still wants to _major_ in Physics, then yeah we are." Phineas replied.

Isabella groaned. "You know what, Phineas? We've gone over these six times, and I feel all studied out. How about I go grab my swimsuit again and we both go swimming while it's still light outside?"

"That sounds wonderful." Phineas said with a smile.

So that was what they did. Apparently Isabella could easily beat Phineas in holding her breath, but Phineas could beat Isabella in a race (neither of them were really all that surprised). They stayed in the water (with Isabella slowly getting closer the whole time and Phineas backing away because he thought it was accidental) until Isabella's mother yelled at them to come inside before it was entirely dark outside.

After that Isabella said they could meet and study tomorrow too if he wanted. Phineas said he might take her up on that offer and headed home.

His mom and dad had been going over details for their business trip when he left, and since Phineas went over to Isabella's all the time, he had not bothered telling them. Both were still doing the same thing when he got back. Phineas began to move towards the stairs but stopped when he heard his father in the kitchen.

"Linda, are you sure we should go to this?"

Phineas hesitated and slowed his steps.

"What do you mean?" Phineas heard his mother reply.

"I mean, with everything the way it is right now, especially Ferb, don't you think maybe we should not go on this trip?"

Phineas tried not to breathe too loudly.

"I think we have to, Lawrence. They don't have anyone lined up for us instead, and Catherine is sick. The boys will be alright for a week on their own."

"They would, under normal circumstances, but…"

Phineas heard his mother sigh. "I'm worried too, but Phineas and Ferb are extremely capable. They can handle themselves."

"They're extremely _smart_ , Linda; they're still just teenagers. They can't always handle everything on their own."

There was a pause, and Phineas' mother spoke again, this time sounding very worried. "Do you think we should be doing something we're not?"

Phineas moved up the steps as quickly as he could without making any noise. He paused outside the door to his room and breathed heavily for a second. Then he slid down outside the door and pulled his knees up to his chest. For a while he simply sat there without saying anything.

Then he went into the bedroom he shared with his brother and changed into his pajamas. He laid down on his bed and faced Ferb, who had been asleep since 7:30 and probably would not wake up until Phineas had to force him to tomorrow.

 _Ferb…_ Phineas thought. _What can I do to help you?_

Phineas heard a familiar chatter interrupt his thoughts and glanced down to see his platypus, looking much more worried than usual. Phineas realized he hadn't seen much of Perry over the past couple weeks, what with being busy worrying about finals and Ferb and Archie and a bunch of other things.

Perry crawled up on the bed and under Phineas' arm.

Phineas sighed. "Well, as always, Perry, you make everything a little better. You have any ideas?"

Perry chattered.

"You semi-aquatic genius."

Phineas pulled the platypus closer, squeezing him probably a little too tight, but Perry did not complain.


	7. Chapter 7

Ferb technically did not fail any of his finals, but he also never got above the low B on his Physics final (the one Phineas and Isabella had forced him to study for).

Archie was _finally_ outlawed from the lunch table by Buford (behind the gym bleachers at the end of class), but that didn't help much. On the very last day of school, which was normally filled with excited questions from Phineas and Ferb's friends and even acquaintances about what events to look forward to for the first part of summer vacation, this year it was full of silent worry and shared looks.

Perry refused to leave Ferb's side most of the time, not even disappearing to wherever he usually went during the day.

Phineas and Ferb's parents left for their business convention with a promise that either of them could call anytime if they needed anything and they would respond as soon as physically possible.

And everyone except for Ferb could sense the worry passing between the three of them.

When their parents drove out of sight, Phineas turned to Ferb nervously. "Hey, do you wanna do something?" Phineas asked. "We've got that first invention set up for—"

"Not today, alright?" Ferb said.

Phineas blinked hard, and opened his eyes again. "Then when, Ferbmister? Tell me when. Because we haven't built anything—"

"Don't you _dare_ say since Archie showed up."

Phineas bit his lip. "I was going to say _for weeks._ "

"Yeah, because—"

"Because you're not in the mood? Ferb, a _day_ or two without inventing is 'not in the mood.' Several weeks of not wanting to do your favorite hobby and _failing all your finals_ is a sign that something is seriously wrong."

"Really? Okay, then what's wrong, Phineas?"

"Why do I have to know _exactly_ what's wrong for you to accept that there's a problem?"

"I don't know, maybe it proves you're not grasping at straws?"

"Grasping at straws _why_? _Why would I need to?!_ Maybe you're just lying to yourself, Ferb! I don't know if it's because you think he's your friend, or what. But he's certainly not acting like your friend!"

"You don't know him, Phineas." Ferb said cooly.

"Maybe I don't. But I do know _you_. And this—" he gestured vaguely at Ferb and the area around him. "—The way you've been acting, _this_ is _not_ you."

"Then I guess you don't know me as well as you thought you did." Ferb said in his definitive, slightly scary voice that said 'This argument is over now.' Phineas almost never heard him use that voice, and never _once_ had it been directed at him.

As Ferb marched into the house and slammed the door, Phineas was left alone with Perry.

"Now what?" he whispered.

…

Phineas was sitting in the living room that evening taking another crack at his periodic table animal machine (that really needed a better name) when Ferb walked in and stood in front of him.

"Hang on, hang on, hang on…" Phineas said to Ferb, signaling for him to wait a second as he moved to flip the switch.

"Ah, wait—" Ferb tried to say, but Phineas had already turned it on.

The tiny machine exploded once again on his face.

"Are you alright?" Ferb asked.

Phineas sighed. "At this point, I'm used to it. I'm going to go wash my shirt now."

He rose to head towards the laundry room, but Ferb stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. "Wait, Phineas."

Phineas turned his head. "Yeah?"

"I need to talk to you."

"What's up?" Phineas asked, trying not to hope for anything one way or the other, as he had no idea what Ferb would say.

"I'm, um, I'm going to be gone for a while."

Phineas turned completely around now. "What? Why?"

"Well, Archie planned this camping trip and—"

"Archie?" Phineas asked.

Ferb exhaled loudly. "Yes. It's for two weeks, and I intend to go. Do you have a problem with that?"

"Ferb, I… well… yes, I have a problem with that!"

"Well it's not your place to decide!" Ferb snapped.

"Then why did you even ask me, Ferb?" Phineas pointed out. "Why do you have to go? Can't you just tell Archie you can't make it?"

"I _can_ make it."

"Yes Ferb, I know that. It's called _lying_ because you don't want to go."

"I _do_ want to go!"

"Really?"

"What kind of question is that?"

Phineas bit his lip. He was desperate, and he knew that Ferb could tell, because Ferb could always tell. "Alright, fine. So maybe you want to go. I am asking you, as your brother, _please_ do not go."

If Archie could do whatever he had done to Ferb within a couple weeks where he was not living with him, Phineas could not imagine what version of his brother would come back from that trip.

"Phineas, there is nothing wrong with me going. I think you might just be jealous because I want to spend some time with an old friend of mine."

"Trust me, Ferb, that's not what this is." A couple weeks ago he would not have been sure, but he was now.

"Well then what is it, Phineas?" Ferb asked. "Is it worry? Because there is nothing to be worried about. We're just going to spending some time catching up. That's perfectly normal."

And _again_ , there was something else in Ferb's tone that Phineas could not read. _Archie_ was something Phineas could not read.

Ferb turned and left, calling over his shoulder: "I'm leaving in a half hour." and Phineas started to panic.

He ran down to the laundry room and pulled out his cell phone.

…

"So, anyway, I walk over to the break station to get some coffee, and you will never guess who was there." Jeremy said in his slightly bizarre form of calm excitement.

Jeremy was interrupted by Candace's phone going off. Loudly. Various looks from people around the restaurant made her face heat up. She hurriedly grabbed her cellphone and switched it to vibrate.

"Do you need to answer?" Jeremy asked her.

"Nah, it's from Phineas, I'll call him back later." Candace said. "You were saying?"

"Oh, right. You'll never guess who was standing there."

"Who?"

Candace's phone started vibrating again. She groaned. _Phineas, not now._

She hung up again and turned back to Jeremy. "Sorry. Apparently Phineas is _really_ anxious to tell me something."

"You sure you don't want to answer it?" Jeremy asked.

"No, really, it's fine. He probably just forgot something about his finals."

"Didn't his school end days ago?"

"Whatever. It doesn't matter, I can—"

Her phone started buzzing again, and Candace groaned.

"Candace, if he calls three times in a row it's probably important. You should answer it."

Candace sighed. He was probably right. If Phineas didn't give up after Candace hung up on him (which was basically her way of saying 'Whatever it is, no.') twice, that meant he definitely had something important on his mind.

"I'll be right back. I still want to hear who was getting coffee." Candace told Jeremy, and walked outside to the front of the restaurant, letting the phone ring out on the way. The cool breeze combined with the night air made it a little bit chilly, but not nearly cold enough for a jacket. Candace leaned against the wall outside the restaurant and hit 'Call back.'

Phineas answered on the very first ring. "Candace!" he screamed, and Candace yanked the phone away from her ear.

"Phineas, I am on a _date_." Candace snapped. "And _quiet down_."

"Candace, I'm sorry! I tried calling mom and dad but neither of them were answering and I don't have time to wait for them to call me back because Ferb is—"

"Woah, slow down." Candace said in a gentler tone, picking up on the obvious panic in her little brother's voice. "What happened?"

"It's a _really_ long story."

Candace sighed. "Well, it's not like I'm in the middle of anything. Start from the beginning."

Candace heard Phineas take a deep breath, and she half-consciously sped up her average sentence speed, and moved the phone partly away from her ear. _Oh, boy._

Just as she expected, Phineas talked loud and fast.

"Okay so a couple weeks ago on Thursday this old friend of Ferb's from England showed up and Ferb seemed really happy to see him and I mean why wouldn't he be but I thought there was something off about him but no one else noticed so I thought it must have been me imagining something that wasn't there (you know I tend to do that) but then at lunch the next day he made this really weird comment that had something to do with dictatorships and I don't remember exactly what it was but then _everyone_ thought there was something off about him but no one knew exactly what it was and then Ferb seemed to start spending more and more time with him and he was always tired and he stopped wanting to do anything he normally likes to do and he seems really miserable and I think that it has something to do with Archie but I don't know what and Ferb's always making excuses for Archie and he's refusing to acknowledge that there's a problem and did you know he got a 68 on his Chemistry final and he got an 82 on his Physics final but only because Isabella and I made him study for like an hour and a half and now Ferb's going to go on this two week camping trip with Archie and I think it's a really bad idea but I don't know how to get him to stay and _Candace_! _What do I do?!_ "

Phineas stopped, and panted for a second.

Candace had her hand on her forehead and was going through the facts Phineas had just given her, trying to make sure she wasn't wrong— although she knew she wasn't. She was minoring in psychology, for crying out loud. She knew about these things.

Finally, Phineas asked in a panicky voice, "Candace, are you still there?"

"Phineas," Candace began quietly. "Do you know what an abusive friendship is?"

Dead silence on the other end of the phone. After what seemed like forever, Phineas spoke. "Is that a thing?" he whispered.

Candace nodded, although Phineas could not see her. "Absolutely. If parents or romantic partners can be abusive, so can friends."

"And you think Archie…"

"Yes, I do." Candace said simply. "I think a lot of what you just mentioned are signs of emotional abuse."

Phineas was quiet again for a while. "So what am I supposed to do?" he asked, still uncharacteristically quiet.

"Well," Candace said. She thought back to when they had gone over this. Thank God it had not been too long ago. "Talk to him. But make sure to give him the initiative. It can also take a while for people to come to terms with this kind of thing, so if it comes to it…" Candace sighed. "You need to let him leave."

"I'm supposed to just let him _go with Archie?!_ " Phineas asked in astonishment.

"Yes. You need to give him time to work through this on his own. Just because Ferb is amazingly smart doesn't mean he'll react any differently than anyone else. He needs to decide for himself what he wants to do. The most important thing is to just be there for him."

Phineas sighed, and it sounded part-relieved, part-resigned, and part-worried. "Okay. Thank you Candace."

"Oh, and Phineas?"

"Yeah?"

"Ignore how I reacted at the beginning of this conversation. Call me anytime at all, and let me know how it turns out."

Phineas responded sincerely, and Candace could hear the smile in his voice. "You got it, sis."

…

Phineas knocked on the door as Ferb was shoving clothes in a bag. "Ferb?" he said hesitantly.

"You're not going to stop me from going." Ferb replied. "So if that's why you're here—"

"No, it's not Ferb." Phineas said. He was unsure about how to go about this conversation because he had never been in a situation like this before.

Candace had said to give him the initiative. He should probably start with that.

"Ferb, how do you feel about your friendship with Archie?" Phineas asked, trying to phrase his words right.

"What?" Ferb asked, glancing up.

Phineas made no move to take his words back or change them.

Ferb looked a little lost for words himself. Finally he spoke again. "What in the world is that supposed to mean?"

"Exactly what I said, Ferb. Why exactly do you feel like Archie is a good friend?"

"Well— for starters, I've known him since I was 2 years old."

"You were friends with him for a year, right?" Phineas said, moving forward and sitting on his own bed. "What was he like?"

"Um…" Ferb seemed to be going over things in his head. Phineas wondered for a second if this was the first time Ferb had ever thought of Archie like this. "Well, I don't remember exactly. I was only two," Ferb finished, sounding a little unsure.

They both knew that was untrue, because Ferb could remember back to when he was a year old. But Phineas said nothing about it. "Okay." he said instead. He paused for a minute while neither of them moved.

Eventually, Phineas spoke again. "Ferb, do you remember how quiet you were when you first came to America?"

Ferb nodded hesitantly. He still looked unsure of where this conversation was going.

Phineas asked the next question hesitantly. "Do you think that was because of Archie?"

"Why would that have been because of Archie?" Ferb asked in confusion.

"Ferb," Phineas said quietly, looking down and taking the very same tone Candace had taken with him when she was explaining this. Then he looked back up. "Do you know what an abusive friendship is?"

Ferb stared at him. "What?" he asked.

A horn honked outside. Phineas rose and looked out the window. "Archie's here." he said, turning back to his brother. He said nothing else.

"Um… I better go." Ferb said, finishing shoving his clothes into his bag and standing up to leave the room. He looked back over his shoulder at Phineas the last second.

Phineas was positive that he still looked very worried, and that there was probably nothing he could do about it.

Ferb turned and walked away.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Trigger warning: emotional abuse. Also my proofreader hopes you have fun crying.**

The first Archie said after Ferb put his suitcase into the trunk and got into the car was: "Took you long enough."

That immediately sparked Ferb's interest for a reason he couldn't quite pin down. He found himself saying: "Yeah, sorry, Phin wanted to talk to me."

"Figures. You know, I think Phin might be a little bit jealous."

Ferb said nothing, but what he wanted to do was tell Archie to shut up. A second later he realized that came out of nowhere, because hadn't he just said the same thing to Phineas not half an hour ago?

And then Phineas had said something about abusive friendships…

Was that even something that existed?

As they drove away, Ferb thought he caught Phineas' face watching through their bedroom window. Phineas looked incredibly worried.

Archie was saying something about forgetting the ice for a cooler, and had Ferb remembered to bring some?

Ferb said he hadn't, and Archie exhaled sharply. "Great. Thanks a lot."

As soon as Archie turned the corner Ferb realized right now he really wanted to jump out of the car and run back the half block towards his house. But he didn't. Instead, he turned his head to look out the window.

"You glad to be out of the house for a couple weeks?" Archie said, elbowing Ferb in the side. Ferb flinched. "I bet it's pretty suffocating to sleep in the same room as someone else."

Weren't they going to be in the same tent for the next couple weeks? And what was wrong with sharing a room with Phineas anyway?

"Ferb?" Archie asked, raising an eyebrow in expectation.

"Yeah, sure." Ferb muttered.

"So, wait, does Phineas talk in his sleep or what?"

"I don't know." Ferb said. Why was this the topic of the conversation? "I don't think so."

"Is he annoying? He seems annoying."

What?

"No, he's not annoying." Ferb said in irritation. "Leave my brother alone."

Archie shrugged. "Okay, whatever. I'm just saying. He seems kind of annoying and overprotective to me."

Ferb turned to the side and put his head on the window, pretending to be asleep, just so Archie would hopefully stop talking.

Instead, he played some loud music. Ferb thought he remembered it as one of Archie's favorite songs.

…

Eventually Ferb must have fallen asleep anyway, because Archie was shaking him awake. "Hey. We're here. You've got to set up the tent."

Ferb sat up and tried to shake off his drowsiness from having slept for… about six hours, according to the clock. He caught the name of the place (Lazy Day Campground), as they were driving slowly towards the back. It was already dark outside, and Ferb looked out the window to see if there were any stars out. That was always one of his favorite parts of camping.

The stars were nowhere in sight.

When they got to their small campsite, Archie looked over at Ferb. "I'm going to go back to that Chez Platypus that I saw just outside the campsite. I'll leave the tent, you'll set it up."

Ferb bit his lip, hard. "Can't you help set up the tent?" He asked, testing the waters.

Archie gave him a curious look. "I thought you were some kind of fancy builder."

Ferb hesitated. "Well, yes…"

"So someone as good as building things as you can't set up a simple tent?"

"No, I can. But that's not—"

"So you'll have no problem then. I'm going to go get some food."

With that, Archie gestured towards the back of the car.

Ferb sighed and walked back, pulled the tent out of the trunk and waited until Archie drove off. The thought that found its way into his head was: _That's Phineas' restaurant. Phineas' and mine._

It was much harder than you'd think to set up a tent as just one person, but Ferb managed. Eventually.

When he finished, Archie wasn't back yet. It was starting to get a little chilly as the night progressed, and his jacket was in his suitcase.

Ferb sat on the wooden bench attached to the picnic table and looked up. He still couldn't see any stars, and it occurred to him in that moment that, other than the name of the campground, he had no idea where he was.

That was more than a little terrifying. He grabbed his phone and tried to turn it on, only to find there was no service.

How could there be no cell service and no stars at the same time?

A couple seconds later Archie pulled back into the campsite, and when he shut off the car Ferb went to the back and pulled his jacket out.

When he got back to the front of the car Archie was putting trash in a fast food bag. "Wait, did you want some?" He asked. Before Ferb could reply he cut in. "Well, you should've said something."

"It's alright. I'm not hungry." Ferb muttered.

"Great. Hey, put my suitcase in the tent, will you?"

…

Ferb was lying awake in his sleeping bag. Partly because Archie snored (like, _loud_ ), and partly because he'd just gotten almost a full night's sleep on the way there, but mostly because he had a lot on his mind. He hadn't had a chance to think back on Phineas' questions, but that's what he was doing now.

 _Ferb, how do you feel about your friendship with Archie?_

Honestly, he wasn't sure anymore.

 _Why exactly do you feel like Archie is a good friend?_

The first thing Ferb had answered was that he'd known Archie so long. But that wasn't a reasonable reason for someone being considered a good friend. Besides…

 _You were friends with him for a year, right? What was he like?_

Exactly. _Only_ a year. He'd known Archie from the time he was 2-3. And how long had he known Phineas? Last time he'd checked, 12 years trumped one year in terms of trustworthiness. Besides, Ferb couldn't say he had to many particularly happy memories of 5-year-old Archie and 2-year-old him. And, about that year…

 _Ferb, do you remember how quiet you were when you first came to America? Do you think that was because of Archie?_

Maybe it was. Ferb has not lied to Phineas. He could not remember much of the year he was friends with Archie. But that didn't make any sense, because he could remember the year before and even back to when he was 9 months old (though he was almost positive those memories weren't reliable). Phineas sometimes said he thought Ferb remembered more from his toddler years than any other person in the world. And yet the year with Archie was fuzzy.

But was he really not as quiet before meeting Archie? Something about the fact that he was much less quiet in more recent years told him that might be the case.

Then Ferb thought back to the past couple weeks, and was shocked to find he couldn't remember those very clearly either. The bad grades on his finals popped into his mind.

 _Ferb, do you know what an abusive friendship is?_

He didn't. He really hadn't known such a thing existed. Did Phineas think that was what was happening with Archie?

Well. He had wanted Phineas to know exactly what was wrong.

Phineas' questions sounded like therapy questions.

But maybe he needed some therapy questions.

Ferb stood up, gathered all his things, and walked out of the tent. At the moment, he just wanted to get out of there. He couldn't call his parents, because they were at their business convention, so who could he call?

Ferb walked to the front of the campground in the dark. When he got there he had enough cell signal to make a call, which was exactly what he did.

The phone rang three times, and then a very sleepy voice answered. "Ferb?" Candace asked. "Are you okay? It's the middle of the night."

She sounded very uncharacteristically worried. _Phineas must have talked to her,_ he realized.

"Hey, Candace." Ferb said, sounding nervous and guilty at the same time. "Can I, um… can I call in a favor?"

"What?" Candace asked, seeming to be forcing herself to wake up.

"When you get the chance, can you come get me?"

"Where are you?" Candace asked.

Ferb gave the name of the campground.

"I'll be there in an hour. Sit tight."

Ferb was about to interrupt and say that she didn't need to hurry, but Candace had already hung up.

Instead, Ferb reached into his bag and pulled out the spare parts he had been too rushed when packing to take out, and then sat back down at the table and began to work.

He would not be able to build the entire thing. Phineas had some of the essential parts back at home, and there were no chemicals in his bag. But the structure was done. All that was needed was the wiring.

As soon as Ferb finished, Candace's car pulled up. The sun was now starting to rise. Candace pushed the car door open as Ferb walked out. "You have everything?" she asked.

"Yeah." Ferb said, climbing in and setting it all in the backseat.

"Did Phineas talk to you?" Candace asked as Ferb turned to face the front.

"Did you talk to Phineas?" Ferb replied, turning back to face his sister.

Candace reached across the car and pulled Ferb into a rare brother-sister hug. "You okay?" she asked quietly.

"I'm good." Ferb replied, staying there for a second. "I just really want to go home now."

"Well, that's why I'm here." Candace said, backing away and starting the car.

"You really didn't have to rush over here." Ferb said as they pulled away.

"Yes I did."

…

It was 7 in the morning when Phineas heard a knock on the door. He rose from where he was eating his breakfast and looked through the peephole. After that he wasted no time opening the door.

"Hey, Phin." Ferb said quietly, and he was holding out the base of a machine labeled 'Animals in Their Element.' "Can we talk?"

Candace was standing behind Ferb, wearing a smile that said she was exhausted but didn't really care.

Phineas took the machine out of Ferb's hand. "Always."


	9. Chapter 9

"Yeeuck, what is that smell?" Buford asked, walking in the door of the backyard.

Phineas glanced up with a huge grin on his face. "It's Sulfur!" he called, as the hamster-sized creature scampered across the backyard and began nuzzling Buford's leg.

"Eww!" Buford said as he pulled his leg up and out of the way.

"Buford, don't be rude." Ferb said, raising an eyebrow.

"That thing stinks! You guys didn't think to give a bath?"

Baljeet was chuckling as he walked in behind Buford.

"We tried." Isabella said with a shrug. "You get used to the smell after a while."

From across the yard came Silver, who was about the size of a large dog and had the attitude of a puppy. He greeted Baljeet with a playful bark and a bounce back and forth.

Baljeet blinked at it.

"Oh, so I get smelly hamster, and Baljeet gets cool-looking dog made of silver?" Buford complained, still attempting to get his leg out of reach of Sulfur.

Phineas laughed. "Just be glad you weren't here with Titanium. He would've squashed you alive for talking like that about Sulfur."

Buford grumbled something only Baljeet could hear that was probably inappropriate (considering Baljeet smacked him on the arm), and then the two of them walked over and sat down.

Sulfur scampered up Buford's back and came to rest on his head.

Buford wore a look that meant he was clearly not amused, and the rest of the group was fighting back laughter.

"Alright, alright, fine!" Buford snapped. "So smelly hamster likes me, and cool silver dog likes Baljeet. What did you guys get?"

"Well, I've got Promethium crawling around in my bow." A glowing teal creature the size of a field mouse poked its head around Isabella's hair. "She's radioactive."

"Then how are you not…" Baljeet started, but he waved his hand towards her, evidently deciding the question wasn't worth asking.

"I seem to be liked by Pizzazium." Phineas said, as the green creature about the size of a housecat crawled out from behind his back. "And Infinionite likes Ferb."

There was a crash, and a creature that looked very much like a purple rhino came out from its preferred spot in the shade behind the house.

"Holy mama!" Buford called. "Ferb, that thing is huge!"

"So you two together make Pizzazium Infinionite." Baljeet said with a grin. "How appropriate."

"Where did the rest of the creatures go?" Buford asked.

"They went to find their own 'owners.'" Phineas said. "See, every creature has someone they identify with the most. Not everyone will have a new pet by the end of the day, but a lot of people will." Phineas grinned wider. "Perry did not like the fact that we got some."

He glanced behind him to see an unusually angry-looking platypus, and the whole group laughed.

"Hey!" came a very familiar voice. Everyone in the backyard froze.

"I can beat him to a pulp if you want." Buford said, cracking his knuckles. "'Three years older' be damned."

"It's alright." Ferb said, standing up. "I can handle it."

Archie appeared at the gate of the backyard. "Ferb, you left me at the campsite. I woke up and you were gone, what gives?"

"The five of us are busy today Archie." Ferb said calmly. "Come back never."

He calmly shut the gate leaving Archie looking shocked and confused and a little angry.

"You're not gonna explain?" Phineas said with a growing grin.

"He doesn't deserve it." Ferb said sitting down. "By the way, I have an idea of what to do for the rest of the day."

"Okay, shoot." Phineas said, still grinning brighter than the sun itself.

As Ferb began to explain, talking about a show for each of the new animals, the whole group could feel the sense of normalcy return that all of them had missed.

By the time they left to prepare for the show, Archie was gone, and everyone seemed to agree without speaking that if they ever saw him again, it would be too soon.

 _ **Fin**_


End file.
